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[quote=Anonymous]Between my kids and nieces and nephews, I know 7 current college students and recent grads at 5 different schools, including Dartmouth.  From talking with them, my sense is that the binge drinking problem is deeply ingrained and, while I respect Hanlon's willingness to engage the issue and his political acumen in getting the board's support, banning hard liquor isn't going to have a big impact.  As a Dartmouth alum PP noted, if you want to get drunk, playing beer pong all night in some fraternity basement is a pretty effective way to do so.

And even though I started college when the drinking age was still 18, and I know there wasn't anywhere near as much binge drinking then, I don't think that lowering the drinking age now would solve the problem either.  Over the past 25-30 years binge drinking has been baked into the college culture  -- more so at some schools (and, yes, Dartmouth is certainly one that comes to mind), but, really, it's everywhere to some extent.

That said, some schools aren't known as much for binge drinking as others, and the biggest factor is probably the prevalence of fraternities and sororities, or similar social organizations (yes, I'm looking at you, Princeton).  Schools that have banished these organizations or those where they never took hold tend to have less of a problem.  That doesn't mean the students don't drink, nor does it mean that there aren't kids who end up in the ER for drinking too much, nor does it mean that there isn't an alcohol-fueled hook-up culture, nor does it mean that there aren't alcohol-fueled rapes.  But it does mean that there's less of a crazy drink-till-you-get-hammered-every-single-Thursday-Friday-and-Saturday-night culture.  Hanlon's plan to create a residential community system as an alternative to the frat-dominated scene at Dartmouth could be a game-changer in this regard, but that's going to take time and continued support from current students and alums.  For those of you with children entering kindergarten about now, check back when your kids are starting to fill out their SAT registration forms.       [/quote]

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